Lubricated traveler ring



Sept; 1946- F. s POLLOCK, JR

LUBRICATED TRAVELER RING Filed July 13, 1945 flank smz pw kmz mm. 1

Patented Sept, 3 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,406,901 LUBRICATEDTRAVELER-RING Frank S. Pollock, Jr., Martinsville, Va., assignor to, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, DeL, a corporation ofDelaware Application July 13, 1945, Serial No. 604,872

4 Claims, 1

This invention relates to textile spinning apparatus, and moreparticularly to an arrangement for lubricating the rings and travelersof ring spinning and twisting frames.

It is now common practice to lubricate the traveler ring of theconventional ring spinning and twisting} machine by wicking lubricantfrom suitable reservoirs in the ring rail to the bearing surface of thering at one or more points. The traveler revolving around the ringcauses the lubricant to be spread over the entire bearing surface of thering. In operation, the lubricant fed to the traveler ring eventuallydrains to the bottom of the ring from which point it. is thrown by thetraveler outwardly off the ring into the atmosphere and onto the floorand adjacent equipment. In the high speed winding and twisting ofpresent day artificial yarns it is necessary to maintain an abundantsupply of clean, i. e. filtered, lubricant on the rings with the resultthat substantial amounts of lubricant are thrown from the ringnecessitating frequent cleaning of adjacent equipment, and theaccumulation of oil on the floor creates a serious fire and accidenthazard. Moreover the .large quantity of lubricant consumed is costly andoperator time is required to frequently replenish the supply oflubricant in the reservoirs.

A principal object of this invention, therefore, is to provide alubricated ring assembly free of the disadvantages noted above.

- A more specific object is to provide a ring assembly wherein lubricantdrained from the bearing surfaces of the ring is recovered, filtered,and recycled to again lubricate the ring.

Another object is to devise means for preventing permanent loss oflubricant from the traveler ring.

Still another object is to provide a lubricated ring assembly whereinthe traveler and ring are caused to be constantly and efficientlylubricated with a minimum of attention and without contaminatin thesurrounding equipment and floor with lubricant.

The foregoing and additional objects will more clearly appear from thefollowing description and the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a traveler ring assembly embodying theprinciples of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional View of the traveler ring assembly on the line 22of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing in which like reference numerals designate likeparts, I designates a ring rai1 on which is removably mounted a travelerring 2 upon which a traveler 3 revolves in the well known manner. Ring 2is provided with recesses 4 and 5, preferably located near the top edgeof the face of the ring at diametrically opposed points. These recessesare adapted to contain wicks 6 and 1 which extend through the wall ofthe ring and communicate with lubricant pockets 8 and 9 respectivelyformed in ring rail l and preferably fitted with oil-absorbent felt padsIE! and II. Disposed below the ring and ring rail is an annularlyshaped, relatively thick felt (or equivalent lubricant-absorbent andfiltering material) l2 having an inside diameter slightly greater thanthe inside diameter of the traveler ring. Extensions of wicks 6 and 1pass through suitably sized holes I3 and I4 inthe bottom of pockets 8and 9 and contact the annular felt l2. In the preferred'modificationillustrated, felt I2 is retained in place by a metal retainer ringcomprised of a vertical side wall section l5 and an outwardly and slightdownwardly projecting flange or bottom section l6. The retainer ring isconveniently attached to the ring rail by spring clips I1, I8, I9 and 20which afford ready means for detaching the retainer ring and annularfelt for cleaning and/ or replacement.

In operation, the pockets 8 and 9 are filled. with lubricant which iswicked to the recesses in the ring and is carried from these points tocover the face of the ring by revolving traveler 2 which guides yarn Yfrom a supply package (not shown) onto the rotating wind-up spool S.Lubricant which accumulates at the bottom edge of the traveler ring isthrown off by the traveler onto the side wall of the retainer ring andflows down the side wall, across the bottom of the retainer from whereit is wicked-up by the annular felt and circulates by Wick action to thepockets in the ring rail and the cycle is repeated.

The retainer ring is of course not essential to the successful operationof the device since it is evident that lubricant thrown from the bottomedge of the traveler ring would be thrown directly against the annularfelt and would circulate to the traveler ring for reuse in the mannerjust described. However, it is of advantage to employ the. retainer ringfor the reasons that: it provides a satisfactory means for holding theannular felt in place; it keeps the felt from picking up and retainingparticles of foreign matter; and it permits cleaning of the travelerring without touching the felt and thereby removing lubricant therefrom.

My improved ring assembly provide many obvious as well as less apparentadvantages over lubricated ring structures heretofore employed. Forexample, because the lubricant is, in the main, recirculated and notlost, less lubricant need be used; and again, because lubricant is notlost, there is a consequent reduction of slipping hazard on the floor,the fire hazard is reduced, less floor sweeping compound (to remove oil)is used, and less labor expenditure in refilling lubricant pockets orreservoirs, sweeping floors, cleaning and replacing oil-damagedequipment, etc., is required. Moreover, more uniform yarn tensionsresult, due probably to the uniform a'pplication of lubricant secured.An important advantage too, i the fact that the recirculated oil is, inthe course of its travel through the felt wick, effectively filtered andthere is reduced tendency to gumming which heretofore has necessitatedfrequent cleaning of the ring and traveler.

As many widely different embodiments of my invention can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be understood thatthe invention is not limited except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A twister ring assembly comprising in combination a ring rail, atraveler ring mounted on the ring rail, means for conducting lubricantto the face of said traveler ring, lubricant collecting means disposedimmediately below said traveler ring and in the path of lubricant thrownfrom said traveler ring, said lubricant collecting means comprising anannular felt pad and means for conducting lubricant from said collectingmeans to said means for conducting lubricant to the face of saidtraveler.

2. In a twister ring comprising a ring rail provided with at least onepocket adapted to contain lubricant, a traveler ring and means forconducting lubricant from said pocket to the face of said ring, theimprovement which comprises an annular lubricant absorbent materiallocated immediately below and in vertical alignment with said travelerring, the inside diameter of said annulus being slightly greater thanthat of said traveler ring, and lubricant conducting means connectingsaid annulus with said pocket.

3. In a twister ring comprising a ring rail provided with at least onepocket adapted to contain lubricant, a traveler ring and means forconducting lubricant from said pocket to the face of said ring, theimprovement which comprises an annulus of felt located immediately belowand in vertical alignment with said traveler ring, the inside diameterof said annulus being slightly greater than that of said traveler means,and wicking connecting said annulus with said pocket.

4. In a twister ring comprising a ring rail provided with at least onepocket adapted to contain lubricant, a traveler ring and mean forconducting lubricant from said pocket to the surface of said ring, theimprovement which comprises an annulus of felt located immediately belowand in vertical alignment with said traveler ring, the inside diameterof said annulus being slightly greater than that of said traveler meansand a retaining means for said annulus removably attached to said ringrail and comprising a vertical side wall in contact with andsubstantially coextensive with the inner wall of said annulus and anoutwardly extending bottom flange upon which said annulus is seated, andwicking means connecting said annulus with said pocket.

FRANK S. POLLOCK. JR.

